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“One must not put a loaded rifle on the stage if no one is thinking of firing it.” Those are Anton Chekhov’s wise words from 1889, but they still ring true today. And it goes not just for theater but for literature and film – and knives, namely the sharp one brandished early on in Roman Polanski’s KNIFE IN THE WATER (1962). Shot in black and white with just three actors, two of whom had never acted before, Polanski’s first feature film is often referred to as one of the best directorial debuts in history, right alongside Orson Welles’ CITIZEN KANE and Jean-Luc Godard’s BREATHLESS.

While many of the festival’s films were developed at the Sundance Labs (like Alex Rivera’s THE SLEEP DEALER) in Sundance, UT, other films are even more local, having been shot in the state or made by locals. Salt Lake City Tribune’s article “Sundance: Utah under the lens” [www.sltrib.com] highlights the local films at this year’s festival. Parts of Ari Gold’s “Park City at Midnight” adventure ADVENTURES OF POWER [www.adventuresofpower.com] were shot in various Utah towns. And then there are a variety of local heroes who hail from the state. The most obvious is Amy Redford – here with her debut feature THE GUITAR…

Craig Zobel premiered his southern comedy of music and fraud THE GREAT WORLD OF SOUND [www.greatworldofsound.com] at last year’s Sundance Film Festival to much acclaim. He’d been working in film and media for years — co-producing David Gordon Green’s debut feature GEORGE WASHINGTON and co-created the cartoon website Homestar Runner — but last year was his Sundance debut. His hard work was acknowledged by the Gotham Awards this fall when he was named the 2007 Breakthrough Director. His film is currently in limited distribution through Magnolia Pictures [www.magpictures.com] and will be available on DVD in February.

Craig was kind enough to tell us five things you should know before coming to Sundance.